Bringing your compay to the social media party? Be prepared.

Recent post from Fast Companies  Rohit Bhargava’s discusses expectations for your companies entrance into social media:
Many brands like to treat social media like a big party at the cool kids house. Everybody’s invited, and having a great time. The conversation is flowing and it’s the place that everyone wants to be. Eventually, you realize that your brand is not there yet, and someone (usually someone with a big title) decides that your brand should be. So you put on your best party clothes, show up at the door and loudly announce your arrival. The only problem is, the party is already in full swing, people already have their drinks, and no one was waiting for you to show up in the first place.

Sound cynical? Unfortunately, for many brands that’s the welcome they can expect as they finally start to turn to social media as a part of their marketing and communications strategy. Launching a blog, or a Facebook page, or Twitter account isn’t hard to do–the hard part is deciding how to use these tools. Ironically, the thing that most brands have to worry about isn’t negativity (as they often fear), it is indifference. The most common “backlash” against company sponsored social media initiatives are the embarrassing sounds of crickets. No one visits and no one cares.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The one thing people respond to is other people. So instead of focusing on your shiny new blog or cool new Facebook app–the place to start is to figure out who will be the people behind it. Find the individuals who will be interacting on behalf of your brand in social media, and then give them the tools and support to do it well. All the companies that get credit today for doing social media well–Zappos, Dell, Comcast–have all become comfortable with letting individuals from their company become the faces for their brand. These are the voices that I often call “accidental spokespeople.” Within them is the real secret to using social media to be a brand that actually matters: offering a real human connection.

8 Niche Sites To Find People Like You

Niche Social-Media Sites

Consider linking up with one of these social-media sites to narrow down your business’s target audience. You’ll find other professionals, enthusiasts and consumers who are most likely already interested in what your company has to offer.

1. Pixel Groovy: Web workers will love Pixel Groovy, an open-source site that lets members submit and rate tutorials for Web 2.0, email and online-marketing issues.
2. Mixx: Mixx prides itself on being “your link to the Web content that really matters.” Submit and rate stories, photos and news to drive traffic to your own site. You’ll also meet others with similar interests.
3. Tweako: Gadget-minded computer geeks can network with each other on Tweako, a site that promotes information sharing for the technologically savvy.
4. Small Business Brief: When members post entrepreneur-related articles, a photo and a link to their profile appear, gaining you valuable exposure and legitimacy online.
5. Sphinn: Sphinn is an online forum and networking site for the Internet marketing crowd. Upload articles and guides from your blog to create interest in your own company or connect with other professionals for form new contacts.
6. BuzzFlash.net: This one-stop news resource is great for businesses that want to contribute articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment to politics to health.
7. HubSpot: HubSpot is another news site aimed at connecting business professionals.
8. SEO TAGG: Stay on top of news from the Web marketing and SEO (search-engine optimization) industries by becoming an active member of this online community.

First published in InsideCRM

Top 12 Bookmarking Sites

InsideCRM had some great information recently about sites every business should know. These sites are just as important for indivduals and non-profits.

Social-Media/Social-Bookmarking Sites

Share your favorite sites on the Web with potential clients and business partners by commenting on, uploading and ranking different newsworthy articles. You can also create a member profile that directs traffic back to your company’s Web site.

1. Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you’ll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site.
2. Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.
3. Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
4. StumbleUpon: You’ll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and “channel surf[ing] the Web. You’ll “connect with friends and share your discoveries,” as well as “meet people that have similar interests.”
5. Technorati: If you want to increase your blog’s readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
6. Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.
7. Squidoo: According to Squidoo, “everyone’s an expert on something. Share your knowledge!” Share your industry’s secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.
8. Furl: Make Furl “your personal Web file” by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features.
9. Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services.
10. WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company’s services with the public for free.
11. YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company’s latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.
12. Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized.

Social Media and History

The unfolding drama in Iran and the use of twitter to organize, motivate and keep a cause alive is a game changer. In the video below Clay Shirky discusses how social media can help change history. Is your organization ready to change the world?

What About Social Media And ROI

Measuring ROI can be confusing when it comes to Social Media EggandCo. created a presentation detailing some if the issues.

Not sure what to do next with your social media strategy?
Contact me: vbrannock@OrganizationalArchitects dot com

Social Media – How does it work?

A wonderful video that explains the basics of Social Media

Social Media and Marketing still not sure?

This report is not new but certainly details information about why Social Media is an important part of your marketing strategy.

If you need help in putting your strategy together contact me at:
vbrannock at OrganizationalArchitects dot com.

Measuring Your Online Success

Part Two of Social Media for your Community Organization.

As the online shift from “markets are conversations” to “conversations are markets” continues to unfold many tools are emerging to help companies track and measure their progress in attracting and maintaining clients.

User friendly tools that provide simple and affordable tracking for twitter, facebook, YouTube and blog mentions like SociafyQ are helpful in tracking your progress. But how do you decide on what is important in measuring success.

Success is not necessarily how many “hits” to your site or page. Because web 2.0 is about the conversation and transparency of communication you should think about quality as much as quantity.

Here are some ideas for businesses and community driven organizations to consider:

What percentage of visitors to your media engage in conversation? What is the conversation? Are you creating evangelists for your product or service that are speaking on your behalf? Are visitors telling their stories?

How many problems/questions are answered and resolved?

Are new ideas emerging from your participants?

These are just a few areas to consider as you establish your metrics for measurement. There are certainly many others depending on your organization.

Remember that it takes time in any circumstances to build a quality community whether on-line or not. People usually take things slow, get to know you and see what you can offer. Offer quality in your relationships and you will be rewarded with loyalty.

Next the value of LinkedIn.

Social Media to help your Community Driven Organization part one

A couple of things…this is the beginning of posts on different social media applications and how they can help your organization. We will be starting with Twitter  since that is the one that is getting the most press right now.

Second I have had a significant paradigm shift since I came in contact with Hildy Gottlieb and agree that we are moving away from the traditional non-profit model and more into a community driven style for organizations seeking to make a difference.

More information about that and how you can help effect positive change in your organization coming in future posts.

First a brief explanation about just what twitter is…
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, “What are you doing?” by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called “tweets”, to your friends, or “followers.”  

Most organizations are feeling a need to participate but they are not sure how and why.

But what about twitter?

As for why, twitter is a fantastic tool for instant communication. You can send event updates (even weather delays or last minute venue changes) answer questions in real time or establish emergency action tweets (blood bank needs help, homeless shelter out of food etc.). Political action groups can use this with phenomenal results, just look at how Obama used twitter during his campaign.

So you can use twitter to establish relationships, elevate your profile in the community and have conversations with many people at one time while still keeping it personal. Everything a community driven organization needs to do.

How do you get started?

·         Set up a main account for your organization something like your @orgnaizationtweets , organization being the name of your group  an example would be  @redcrosstweets or just @redcross.

·         Do this so that you can be found easily on a search.  Put something interesting about your organization in your bio. Make it fun and attractive to get your searchers attention.

·         Consider a separate landing page on your website for the twitter link. You could say welcome to the <organizations name> twitter page. Thanks for stopping by. Here are some of our staff that you may want to follow (list them). Here’s what we are about…

·         Give the staff that wants to post tweets on your behalf their own account. People want to get to know members of your organization personally. When you make those connections and begin conversations you will develop a loyal and motivated base.

How can your organization creatively use twitter?

In the next post we will discuss results.